by Lucas Flint
“Are you saying that the Mother World was afraid of the Darzens?” said Omega Man in shock.
“Not the Darzens,” said Nicknacks, shaking his head, “but the god they worshiped. A figure as old and ancient as the universe itself, yet seemingly old even when the universe was young. A being of such immense power that he could blow up a world with a look and shatter a solar system with a clap of his hands. An entity whose very name, unpronounceable in all but the native tongue of the Darzens, is enough to shatter the minds of anyone who dares utter it.”
“What is this god you speak of?” said Omega Man. “What is its name?”
“As I said, it is unpronounceable in the human tongue,” said Nicknacks. “Or any other language, for that matter. The closest translation I can give is ‘Dread God.’ It’s a fitting name, because it is a god that indeed inspires dread in everyone who is aware of it. The Mother World dreaded it more than anything else in the universe and, because of the connection between the Mother World and the Pokacu, we feared it as well. Even now, years after I broke free of the Mother World’s control, I still feel deep fear whenever I hear its name.”
Even a few of the Council members looked disturbed when they heard its translated name, despite the fact that none of them had even heard of the Dread God before today.
“If this Dread God is so powerful and awe-inspiring, then why hasn’t he destroyed or invaded Earth yet?” said Black Blur. He looked nervous. “Surely we would have been made aware of such a powerful entity long before today, wouldn’t we?”
“Because he’s dead,” said Nicknacks. “That’s why.”
“How can a god die?” said Lady Amazon skeptically. “That would imply he’s a mortal, wouldn’t it?”
“Like I said, that’s just a translation of his name,” said Nicknacks, “though by no means an inaccurate translation. Still, the Dread God is dead, slain a long time ago by mighty warriors on a planet he once conquered.”
“How could anyone kill a god?” said Lady Amazon. “Even just a metaphorical one?”
“I don’t know,” said Nicknacks. “There are only legends about the Dread God, no fact-filled historical documents or anything else. I only know what the Mother World told us when I was still a drone. The Dread God has been dead for eons. And thank God for that, because the universe is not prepared for something like that.”
“If the Dread God is dead, then why was the Mother World so afraid of the Darzens?” said Mecha Knight. “It does not compute.”
“Because the Mother World was paranoid,” said Nicknacks. “She feared that the Dread God’s spirit might still linger somehow and that it would come to the aid of his people if they were attacked. I don’t think it’s true, but you have to understand the kind of fear the Dread God instilled in her. She was as afraid of the Dread God as a mouse is of a lion and for much the same reasons.”
Bolt gulped. He remembered how intense and overwhelming the Mother World’s power had been, how close the Mother World had come to destroying Earth. The idea that the Dread God wielded even more power than the Mother World made Bolt hope that Nicknacks was joking, though given how serious Nick’s tone was, Bolt knew that that was a false hope.
“So these Darzens …” Omega Man seemed to be trying to find words to express his thoughts. “Why are they going to invade Earth? What does Earth have that they want?”
“I can answer that,” said Captain Galaxy, stepping forward. “The Darzens are searching for something, and that ‘something’ is here on Earth.”
“Can you tell us what they’re searching for, at least?” said Omega Man.
“Of course,” said Captain Galaxy. “They are trying to resurrect the Dread God … and to do so, they need the Soul Crown.”
“The Soul Crown?” Bolt said. “What’s that?”
Captain Galaxy frowned deeply. “A powerful artifact which once belonged to the Dread God, but which we must prevent from falling into the Darzens’ hands again.”
“Why?” said Omega Man. “Because they plan to use it to resurrect the Dread God?”
“More than that,” said Captain Galaxy. “If the Darzens succeed in getting the Soul Crown … every last person on Earth will die.”
CHAPTER NINE
Interdimensional travel always seemed like something from science fiction to Beams. His best friend, Frank, was a firm believer in multiverse theory, though mostly because it seemed like a cool idea to him, rather than because it had any real scientific basis. Beams, on the other hand, had always thought it was a cool story idea, but that it would never work in real life, although when he considered all of the crazy things he had seen since going to work for Rubberman, he wondered if his skepticism had been slightly arbitrary.
In any case, when Mr. Space opened a portal and stepped through it, Beams did not hesitate to walk through it after him. He had seen enough proof from Mr. Space to realize that multiverse theory was indeed correct and that he could trust that the portals Mr. Space opened would take him to other universes. He did, however, look over his shoulder one last time as he passed through the portal, waving back at Rubberman, Adams, and Angel Wings. The three of them waved back at him, but he saw the three of them immediately begin talking amongst themselves, no doubt figuring out what to do while Beams was away.
That was the last Beams saw of them. In the next instant, he passed fully through the portal and found himself standing in a metal hallway with weird, glowing ropes along the ceiling that provided illumination for the hallway. The portal closed behind Beams with a small pop, making him almost jump in surprise, though Mr. Space looked perfectly at ease in here. In fact, despite holding the metal box containing the Rubber Ball, Mr. Space looked as if he was finally home.
“Whew,” said Mr. Space. “We’re finally safe.”
“Are you sure?” said Beams. “If the Darzens can travel through dimensions as well—”
“Don’t worry,” said Mr. Space. “The Darzens probably don’t know we have the Rubber Ball yet. With luck, by the time they realize that, the Rubber Ball will be safely within IEA headquarters where they will be unable to get it. Hopefully, they’ll then go home and forget all about this.”
Beams frowned. It didn’t seem likely to him that the Darzens would just give up on their quest to resurrect their dead god, but he had more pressing questions on his mind at the moment than that. “Say, where are we? I don’t recognize this place.”
“This place?” said Mr. Space. He gestured with one hand, because his other arm held the box containing the Rubber Ball under his arm. “This is the Adventure, which is our interdimensional spaceship. Quite the beauty, ain’t she?”
“Um, I suppose …” said Beams. “But you said ‘our.’ Are you not alone?”
“Nope,” said Mr. Space, shaking his head. “I’m not a solo agent. There’s no way I could pilot and maintain this entire ship by myself. I’ve got two other crew members here aside from myself.”
“Oh?” said Beams. “Who are they?”
“Well, there’s SP-28Y, or, as we call him, Sparky,” said Mr. Space. “He’s technically our robotic assistant, rather than a full crew member and IEA agent in his own right, but Galaxy and I think of him as equal with us, which is why we gave a proper name.”
“Galaxy?”
“She’s the other member of the crew,” said Mr. Space. “Captain Helena Galaxy. She’s technically the leader of the team, hence the Captain title, but we’re good friends and basically equals aside from that. She’s not as nice as me, but don’t tell her that when you see her.”
Beams titled his head to the side. “So you’re Mr. Space and Captain Galaxy? Oddly appropriate names for interdimensional explorers.”
“What can I say?” said Mr. Space with a shrug. “Just how our family names worked out. If it helps, you can think of them as superhero names like the kind you guys have on your Earth.”
“My Earth,” Beams repeated. “You mean there are multiple Earths.”
“Sure,” said
Mr. Space. He turned and said, “We can talk while the treads move us to the bridge. I need to see Sparky and let him know I’m back from my mission.”
Beams was about to ask what he meant by ‘treads’ when the floor abruptly began moving under their feet. While Mr. Space maintained his balance with no issue, Beams fell over and landed on his bottom, sitting there with a surprised expression on his face before he shook his head and looked around.
“Wait, the floor is moving?” said Beams, looking up at Mr. Space.
“Sure,” said Mr. Space. “I forgot to tell you. We don’t walk around here. We let the floor take us to where we need to go. Much quicker and efficient.”
“Seems kind of slow to me,” said Beams as he rose to his feet and dusted himself off. “I think it would be faster if we walked.”
“Hey, you’re the one from a universe that doesn’t even have dimension-hopping tech,” said Mr. Space with a snort. “You just need to get used to our state of the art technology.”
Beams wasn’t sure how treadmills were considered ‘state of the art technology’ where Mr. Space was from, but he chose not to get into a debate about it, because he had more important questions to ask than that.
“So we’re going to the IEA headquarters?” said Beams.
Mr. Space nodded. “Yeah. It’s one of the most secure places in the multiverse. It ought to be more than enough to protect the Rubber Ball from the Darzens.”
“Uh huh,” said Beams. “Where, exactly, is it located?”
“Not in any particular universe,” said Mr. Space. “It’s actually a giant floating dimension ship in the middle of the void between universes. It serves as a massive hub for all IEA agents. It’s pretty cool. I’ll have to show you an image of it when we get to the bridge.”
Beams thought about asking more questions about the IEA, but he decided he would save them for later. He wanted to learn more about the Adventure and meet the rest of Mr. Space’s crew before he started asking too many questions. Besides, he wasn’t sure where to start, given how he hadn’t even been aware that the IEA existed until less than an hour ago, if even that.
Their journey to the bridge of the Adventure went by fairly quickly. They traveled up to the next deck on the treads, but then Mr. Space insisted that they take what he called the ‘elevator.’ It was the oddest elevator Beams had ever seen, because it was more like a floating platform that could ascend and descend than a normal elevator. Beams even feared that the platform wouldn’t hold both of their weight, but when the two of them stepped onto it, the platform did not suddenly give out underneath them and it ascended without any trouble.
A few seconds later, Beams and Mr. Space entered the bridge of the Adventure. As they passed through the doorway, Beams looked around and saw dozens of monitors displaying a variety of different images and footage on them. Some of the monitors seemed to display the Adventure’s various statistics, while others showed security footage from different rooms in the ship. A few even displayed feeds from exterior cameras and, while none of the exterior cameras displayed the entirety of the ship, Beams guessed that the Adventure was absolutely enormous, much bigger than he originally thought. The bridge had a slight orange tinge to it for some reason, as if someone had spilled orange juice recently, though it could have been an air freshener as well.
But Beams’ attention soon became focused on the robot sitting in the floating chair in the middle of the room, surrounded on all sides by a variety of floating screens. The robot’s back was to them, so he couldn’t see its face, but he could tell it was hard at work, tapping on touch screens, pressing buttons, and doing a bunch of other things to keep the ship going.
“Hey, Sparky!” said Mr. Space. “I’m back, and I brought a visitor, too!”
The chair rotated in midair, showing the the robot himself. The robot was humanoid in appearance and seemed to be about the size of an average adult. He was silver and black and wore armor on top of his metallic skin. His mouth was more like a vent than a mouth and his optics glowed blue in his eye sockets. He had some kind of blaster attached to his waist, which Beams assumed was for self-defense.
“Welcome back, Mr. Space,” said Sparky. “Was the mission successful?”
“Yep,” said Mr. Space, nodding. He tapped the box under his arm. “When Galaxy gets back from her mission, tell her she owes me fifty credits.”
“Why?” said Beams.
Mr. Space looked at Beams. “We made a bet about who would complete their mission first, betting fifty credits each. Because I got back first, that means she owes me money.”
“Do you two usually bet on your missions like this?” said Beams.
“All the time,” said Mr. Space. “We may be friends, but a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. Well, there was that one time Galaxy threw her floating chair at me when I beat her that one time, but other than that, our competitions have always been friendly.”
“What about the time you accused her of cheating and didn’t talk to her for a week after that when she refused to admit to it?” said Sparky.
Mr. Space glared at Sparky. “I don’t remember asking you for your insight, Sparky, old buddy.”
“Very well,” said Sparky with a shrug. He looked at Beams. “Who is this?”
“Sparky, meet Alex Fry, or, as he is known in his world, Beams,” said Mr. Space, slapping Beams on the shoulder. “He’s a sidekick and can shoot lasers from his eyes and stuff. Pretty cool, if you ask me.”
“Mr. Space, do you mean to say that you brought a native on board the Adventure?” said Sparky. “That is against IEA protocols, you know.”
Mr. Space waved off Sparky’s concerns. “I know. I had to read the whole freaking rulebook to pass my qualification tests. Unique circumstances forced me to bring the kid along with me, but don’t worry. He’s a good sport who isn’t going to touch anything without our permission, right, Beams?”
One of Sparky’s monitors had floated over to Beams and Mr. Space, which Beams had been about to touch. But as soon as Mr. Space said that, Beams yanked his hand back and said, “Yeah, of course. I’d never touch any of your stuff without your permission, no sir.”
“See?” said Mr. Space. “He’s going to be just fine.”
“Right,” said Sparky, though the robot didn’t sound entirely convinced of that. “Well, I suppose it’s too late to send him back now, but we’ll see what Captain Galaxy has to say when she gets back.”
“Gets back?” Beams repeated. “You mean she isn’t here?”
“Nope,” said Mr. Space, shaking his head. “She went to another universe on a separate, though related, mission. That’s why we bet with each other.” He chuckled. “Oh, man is she going to be angry when she finds out I completed my mission before her. That hardly ever happens.”
“I have not heard from Captain Galaxy since she left for Universe Five Two Nine One Six,” said Sparky. “So I do not know her current status, though I’ve been on standby to give her help should she need it.”
“Galaxy’s a tough gal,” said Mr. Space. “I bet she’s going to be fine, especially if she meets up with that Bolt kid and his friends. Once they find out she’s with me, I’m sure they’ll be willing to help her, no matter what happens.”
“I hope you are right,” said Sparky. “The Darzens are a dangerous enemy, one not to be taken lightly.”
“Wait, are the Darzens attacking another universe?” said Beams.
“Yes,” said Sparky, nodding. “They are seeking something else they need to resurrect the Dread God, which is is another universe separate from your own. But we are not going there, not unless Captain Galaxy calls for aid, anyway.”
“But we have the Rubber Ball,” said Beams, gesturing at the box under Mr. Space’s arm. “I thought that was all they needed to bring back the Dread God.”
“Resurrection is evidently a far more complicated process than we originally assumed,” said Sparky. “In any event, it will probably be quite a while before we hear
back from Captain Galaxy, so—”
A small ping came from one of the monitors. Sparky’s floating chair turned in midair to face it and Sparky tapped the screen once. A message appeared on the screen, but it was in a language that Beams could not read. The words looked like complete gibberish to him, but Sparky seemed to understand them, because his gaze was fixed on the message as though it were the most interesting book in the world.
“Sparky, who’s that message from?” said Mr. Space. “Is it from Galaxy? Does she need us to pick her up?”
Sparky shook his head. “No. It’s a message from headquarters. They’re requesting all IEA ships back to headquarters immediately.”
“What?” said Mr. Space. “Why?”
“According to this message, the Darzens are attacking headquarters,” said Sparky. “And it sounds like they’re winning.”
CHAPTER TEN
A chilling silence fell across the Council Chamber like a curtain when Captain Galaxy said that. Even Nicknacks looked more disturbed than he normally did, as if even he had not expected her to say that. Bolt shifted his weight slightly, hoping that Captain Galaxy would explain what she just said.
“I don’t understand,” said Omega Man at last. “How does the Darzens getting the Soul Crown equal the deaths of every human on Earth?”
“You have to understand what the Soul Crown is,” said Captain Galaxy. “Let me show it to you.”
Captain Galaxy tapped a few buttons on the touch screen on her arm and aimed her wrist at a nearby wall. An image was projected onto the wall, depicting what looked like a giant horned crown encrusted with seven sparkling gems of different colors. The image began to rotate, showing every inch of its surface.
